Jan 22, 2021

State of the AV Industry

The start of 2020 came with the hope of financial and industry growth within the AV world, but little did we know what lied ahead. COVID-19 brought us a pandemic, the likes of which we haven’t experienced in 100 years. In February the virus rapidly spread across the world with little knowledge on what to do or how to manage. By March, most of the world was put on lockdown and confined to their homes to try and slow the spread of the virus. And with that, the world came to a screeching halt. Busy, bustling cities became abandoned, schools and universities sent students home and the world waited to see what would happen next. Only the essential personnel were “allowed” to leave their home for work.

At the end of March, our government leaders deemed that AV workers fell under the essential personnel category of “Communication and Information Technology.” This allowed for AV personnel the opportunity to get back to earning a living for themselves and their families. But what was quickly realized was that just because the government allowed for AV companies to operate as normal, under the new safety protocols, did not mean that there would be a place for them to work. The majority of office parks and buildings were closed as companies moved their employees’ in-office jobs to remote. Since these job sites were closed to the public, AV personnel had no where to work. Other issues started to come to light, like travel restrictions in different states and sites needing negative test results from personnel before arrival.

There were a number of companies that experienced financial hardships, and with that, 2020 spending budget had to be reevaluated. Pre-covid AV plans had to be reworked, delayed or nixed altogether. As the year wore on, the financial forecast started to take shape and projects slowly reinstated. Near the end of Q3 some companies began to open up and allow AV work to be done while their employees worked from home. Upgrading the workplace became a great way to get employees that have spent months at home excited about coming back to the office.

Through the end of the year and the start of 2021, AV work has been hit and miss. Not from the lack of people available to work, but the uncertainty of the times we live in now. Jobs can come in like a flood for a few weeks, and then down to a trickle the next few. Either way we are thankful to be back in the field and working again. Moving forward, as we better understand this virus and the vaccines become more available, there is no down that the big plans and expectations of 2020 will be quickly realized and surpassed.

Written by: Joel Turner - Lead Contributor